6.

Factoring - Factoring Special Products

Objective: Identify and factor special products including a dierence of squares, perfect squares, and sum and dierence of cubes. When factoring there are a few special products that, if we can recognize them, can help us factor polynomials. The rst is one we have seen before. When multiplying special products we found that a sum and a dierence could multiply to a dierence of squares. Here we will use this special product to help us factor Dierence of Squares: a2 b2 = (a + b)(a b) If we are subtracting two perfect squares then it will always factor to the sum and dierence of the square roots. Example 1. x2 16 (x + 4)(x 4) Example 2. 9a2 25b2 (3a + 5b)(3a 5b) Subtracting two perfect squares, the square roots are 3a and 5b Our Solution Subtracting two perfect squares, the square roots are x and 4 Our Solution

It is important to note, that a sum of squares will never factor. It is always prime. This can be seen if we try to use the ac method to factor x2 + 36. Example 3. x2 + 36 x2 + 0x + 36 1 36, 2 18, 3 12, 4 9, 6 6 Prime, cannot factor No bx term, we use 0x. Multiply to 36, add to 0 No combinations that multiply to 36 add to 0 Our Solution

It turns out that a sum of squares is always prime. Sum of Squares: a2 + b2 = Prime
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A great example where we see a sum of squares comes from factoring a dierence of 4th powers. Because the square root of a fourth power is a square ( a4 = a2), we can factor a dierence of fourth powers just like we factor a dierence of squares, to a sum and dierence of the square roots. This will give us two factors, one which will be a prime sum of squares, and a second which will be a dierence of squares which we can factor again. This is shown in the following examples. Example 4. a4 b4 (a2 + b2)(a2 b2) (a2 + b2)(a + b)(a b) Example 5. x4 16 (x2 + 4)(x2 4) (x2 + 4)(x + 2)(x 2) Dierence of squares with roots x2 and 4 The rst factor is prime, the second is a dierence of squares! Our Solution Dierence of squares with roots a2 and b2 The rst factor is prime, the second is a dierence of squares! Our Solution

Another factoring shortcut is the perfect square. We had a shortcut for multiplying a perfect square which can be reversed to help us factor a perfect square Perfect Square: a2 + 2ab + b2 = (a + b)2 A perfect square can be dicult to recognize at rst glance, but if we use the ac method and get two of the same numbers we know we have a perfect square. Then we can just factor using the square roots of the rst and last terms and the sign from the middle. This is shown in the following examples. Example 6. x 2 6x + 9 (x 3)2 Example 7. 4x2 + 20xy + 25 y 2 (2x + 5 y )2 Multiply to 100, add to 20 The numbers are 10 and 10, the same! Perfect square Use square roots from rst and last terms and sign from the middle
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Multiply to 9, add to 6 The numbers are 3 and 3, the same! Perfect square Use square roots from rst and last terms and sign from the middle

World View Note: The rst known record of work with polynomials comes from the Chinese around 200 BC. Problems would be written as three sheafs of a good crop, two sheafs of a mediocre crop, and one sheaf of a bad crop sold for 29 dou. This would be the polynomial (trinomial) 3x + 2 y + z = 29. Another factoring shortcut has cubes. With cubes we can either do a sum or a dierence of cubes. Both sum and dierence of cubes have very similar factoring formulas Sum of Cubes: a3 + b3 = (a + b)(a2 ab + b2) Dierence of Cubes: a3 b3 = (a b)(a2 + ab + b2) Comparing the formulas you may notice that the only dierence is the signs in between the terms. One way to keep these two formulas straight is to think of SOAP. S stands for Same sign as the problem. If we have a sum of cubes, we add rst, a dierence of cubes we subtract rst. O stands for Opposite sign. If we have a sum, then subtraction is the second sign, a dierence would have addition for the second sign. Finally, AP stands for Always Positive. Both formulas end with addition. The following examples show factoring with cubes. Example 8. m3 27 (m 3)(m2 3m 9) (m 3)(m2 + 3m + 9) Example 9. 125 p3 + 8r 3 (5 p 2r )(25 p2 10r 4r 2) (5 p + 2r )(25 p2 10r + 4r 2) We have cube roots 5 p and 2r Use formula, use SOAP to ll in signs Our Solution We have cube roots m and 3 Use formula, use SOAP to ll in signs Our Solution

The previous example illustrates an important point. When we ll in the trinomials rst and last terms we square the cube roots 5 p and 2r . Often students forget to square the number in addition to the variable. Notice that when done correctly, both get cubed. Often after factoring a sum or dierence of cubes, students want to factor the second factor, the trinomial further. As a general rule, this factor will always be prime (unless there is a GCF which should have been factored out before using cubes rule).
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The following table sumarizes all of the shortcuts that we can use to factor special products Factoring Special Products Dierence of Squares Sum of Squares Perfect Square Sum of Cubes Dierence of Cubes a2 b2 = (a + b)(a b) a2 + b2 = Prime a2 + 2ab + b2 = (a + b)2 a3 + b3 = (a + b)(a2 ab + b2) a3 b3 = (a b)(a2 + ab + b2)

As always, when factoring special products it is important to check for a GCF rst. Only after checking for a GCF should we be using the special products. This is shown in the following examples

Example 10. 72x2 2 2(36x2 1) 2(6x + 1)(6x 1) Example 11. 48x2 y 24xy + 3 y 3 y (16x2 8x + 1) 3 y (4x 1)2 Example 12. 128a4b2 + 54ab5 2ab2(64a3 + 27b3) 2ab2(4a + 3b)(16a2 12ab + 9b2) GCF is 2ab2 Sum of cubes! Cube roots are 4a and 3b Our Solution GCF is 3 y Multiply to 16 add to 8 The numbers are 4 and 4, the same! Perfect Square Our Solution GCF is 2 Dierence of Squares, square roots are 6x and 1 Our Solution

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6.5 Practice - Factoring Special Products

Factor each completely. 1) r 2 16 3) v 2 25 5) p2 4 7) 9k 2 4 9) 3x2 27 11) 16x2 36 13) 18a2 50b2 15) a2 2a + 1 17) x2 + 6x + 9 19) x2 6x + 9 21) 25 p 10 p + 1 23) 25a2 + 30ab + 9b2 25) 4a 20ab + 25b
2 2 2 2 2

2) x2 9 4) x2 1 6) 4v 2 1 8) 9a2 1 10) 5n2 20

12) 125x2 + 45 y 2

14) 4m2 + 64n2 16) k 2 + 4k + 4 18) n2 8n + 16 20) k 2 4k + 4 22) x2 + 2x + 1 24) x2 + 8xy + 16 y 2 28) 20x2 + 20xy + 5 y 2 30) x3 + 64 32) x3 + 8 34) 125x3 216 38) 32m3 108n3 36) 64x3 27 26) 18m2 24mn + 8n2

27) 8x 24xy + 18 y 29) 8 m

3 3

31) x 64 33) 216 u3 35) 125a3 64 37) 64x + 27 y

3 3

40) 375m3 + 648n3 42) x4 256 44) n4 1 46) 16a4 b4

39) 54x3 + 250 y 3 41) a4 81 43) 16 z 4 45) x4 y 4 47) m4 81b4

48) 81c4 16d4

Beginning and Intermediate Algebra by Tyler Wallace is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

6.5

Answers - Factoring Special Products 1) (r + 4)(r 4) 2) (x + 3)(x 3) 3) (v + 5)(v 5) 4) (x + 1)(x 1) 5) ( p + 2)( p 2) 6) (2v + 1)(2v 1) 7) (3k + 2)(3k 2) 8) (3a + 1)(3a 1) 9) 3(x + 3)(x 3) 10) 5(n + 2)(n 2) 11) 4(2x + 3)(2x 3) 12) 5(25x2 + 9 y 2) 13) 2(3a + 5b)(3a 5b) 14) 4(m2 + 16n2) 15) (a 1)2 16) (k + 2)2 17) (x + 3)2 18) (n 4)2 19) (x 3)2 20) (k 2)2 21) (5 p 1)2 22) (x + 1)2 23) (5a + 3b)2 24) (x + 4 y )2 25) (2a 5b)2 26) 2(3m 2n)2 27) 2(2x 3 y )2 28) 5(2x + y )2 29) (2 m)(4 + 2m + m2) 30) (x + 4)(x2 4x + 16) 31) (x 4)(x2 + 4x + 16) 32) (x + 2)(x2 2x + 4) 33) (6 u)(36 + 6u + u2) 34) (5x 6)(25x2 + 30x + 36) 35) (5a 4)(25a2 + 20a + 16) 36) (4x 3)(16x2 + 12x + 9) 37) (4x + 3 y )(16x2 12xy + 9 y 2) 38) 4(2m 3n)(4m2 + 6mn + 9n2) 39) 2(3x + 5 y )(9x2 15xy + 25 y 2) 40) 3(5m + 6n)(25m2 30mn + 36n2) 41) (a2 + 9)(a + 3)(a 3) 42) (x2 + 16)(x + 4)(x 4) 43) (4 + z 2 )(2 + z )(2 z ) 44) (n2 + 1)(n + 1)(n 1) 45) (x2 + y 2)(x + y )(x y ) 46) (4a2 + b2)(2a + b)(2a b) 47) (m2 + 9b2)(m + 3b)(m 3b) 48) (9c2 + 4d2)(3c + 2d)(3c 2d)

Beginning and Intermediate Algebra by Tyler Wallace is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)